Art of lithographic transferring.



No. 748,003. PATNTED 1330.29, 190s.

G. E. PANCOAST. lART 0F LITHQGRAPHIG TRANSPBRRING. I

APPLICATION FILED IEB.10, 1899.

No MODEL.

ATTORNE s y UNITED STATES i Patented December 29, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

y GEORGE PANGOAST, OF BROOKLYN,"NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN `LI'IHOGRAPHIC COMPANY, A CORl-ORATION OF NEW YORK.

ART, or LrrHoeRAPi-uc 'rRANst-'l-:RRING- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 748,008, dated December 29, 1903. Application liled February 10, 1899. Serial No. 705,156. (No specimens.)

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. PANcoAsT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, State ofL NewYork, have invented certain new and,

useful Improvements in the Art of Lithographic Transferring, of which the following is a specication.-

` My invention has reference to the art of lithographie transferring. It has for its object to attain more accurately and reliably than heretofore the transfer of a design from a printing-surface to another surface adapted to receive it and to be thereafterdeveloped itself into a printing-surface.

It `consists'. of the novel method herein set out'.

Heretofore in the art of lithographie transferring it has been 'customary to print an impression of the design in ink upon paper which has been specially prepared for the purpose and which is called transfer-paper.V It is a somewhat soft paper whose surface has been prepared with suitable sizing. It is adapted to be'soaked ofi. from the prin ting-surface after itvhas been turned over upon it and has given its ink to it, and it has a more or less soluble face and composition to that end.

.- These peculiarities render it exceeding liable to stretching and shrinking'longitudinally and laterally, and hence constitute it a variable and unreliable conveyor Where the accuracy of location of the design as a whole' upon the printing-surface and all the parts of the design one part with respect to another is im portant. 'lhis liability to error is exemplified by the liability of the paper to stretch with handling-for instance, when it is being lifted from the stone or printing-surface.

'lhis tendency is increased bythe circumstance that the transfer-paper is ordinarily madeuuse of in a dampened condition, the

dam peni'ng rendering it more or less soft and extensible. Moreover,the paper hasthe tendency to vary its length and breadth, depending uponthe extent to which it is dam pened. 1f too much dampened, it has a tendency to elongate and widen. If too dry, it will be The diiuulty is especially great iu dealing with a large design where a large superficies of the transfer-sheet is made use of in transferring a design from one printing-surface to another. For example, it is not an unusual circumstance for the design `upon a large sheet of this transfer-paper to be as a whole an eighth of an inch or more longer than the design on the stone from which the impression has been taken in the case of a design. say, twenty inches by twenty-eight inches. For this reason the use of large sheets of transferpaper' in transferring is avoided wherever possible. For instance, where the printing-surface, as is ordinarily the case, is large and contains a great many designs placed close together if duplicate printing-surfaces are desired it is customary to painstakingly stick up on a 'settingup plate the various transfer impressions of the separate small designs on the small pieces of transferpapereach ti me a new printing-surface is tobe made exacilyin the same slow, tedious, and expensive manner used for making the rst printing-surface.

My `invention will prevent `all distortion and inaccuracies caused by the stretching or shrinking of the transfer sheet or conveyer, and will therefore also obviate the necessity of painstakingly and by hand grouping the small designs that are lo go onto one printing-surface more than once.

In place of the transfer-paper as the material of the transfer sheet or conveyer I have devised aud employ a sheet orconveyer that is non-stretchable and nonshrinkable longitudinally and laterally and that has an even.

and uniform snrfacetsuitable to receive an imprint of a design from a printing-surface. In its preferred form `the sheet or conveyer consists of a thin foundation-layer of hardrubber composition, as vnlcanite, and a thin surface-cushioning layer of softer rubber, the two layers being secured to one another at `all points and preferably made integral by being vulcanized together. The foundation-layer of hard rubber is about one-sixteenth of an inc h in thickness and is of such a character as to be non-stretchable and nou-shrinkable longitudinally and laterally. The surface-cushioning layer is about one thirty-second of an inch thick and is evenly and uniformly surfaced. In carrying out my invention I first= suitably cleanse the surface of the sheet and then preferably apply to it a uniform layer of suitable size, such as will receive the ink. AAfter that is suitablydry I print the design in ink or other suitable medium from any suitable printing-surface which is to be reproduced upon the uniform-sized surface of the conveyer-sheet. I then bring the thus-printed face of the sheet into contact with a suitable and suitably-prepared stone orf other planographic surface prepared to receivethe de vsign and adapted to be thereafter developed into a printing-surface for the design, applying pressure with or to said contact, but in such way as not to shift in the slightest degree the position of the conveyer-sheet as a 'whole upon the planographic surface after the contact has once been made. I then remove the conveyor-sheet, after which I suitably develop the planographic surface into a printing-surface of the character desiredfor instance, into a planographic or lithographic printing-surface by suitable light etching, or into a relief printing-surface by suitable deep etching, supplemented by rout# ing out, if desired, &c. I prefer the construction of conveyer-sheet herein specifically described and involving thepresence of two layers secured together at all points; but my invention in its broader aspect would be embodied if theconveyer-sheet be evenly and uniformly surfaced and be-of such construction that it is non-stretchable and nonshrinkable longitudinally and laterally and capable of having printed upon it the design that is to be transferred in ink or other suitable medium and to communicate the same or enough of it to constitute the design to the planographic surface adapted to receive the design from the conveyor-surface and to be thereafter developed into a printing-surface for that design.

For the purpose of making a first large printing-surface which isv to have a plurality of smaller designs grouped on its face for purposes of economy, as is usual in the prin- Lers art, I take a number of small conveyersheets-such, for example, as have been heretofore described-one for each of the sepa-v rate designs and of proper size for that design, cleanse and size or otherwise prepare its surface properly, and print upon it fromthe original stone containing that design. "I,

jected to pressure, as heretofore. In this way the ink of the several Vseparate designs is communicated in proper position and location to the lithographie stone or su rface to be developed into a printing-surface, the ink of the conveyer-sheets or enough of it leaving the conveyor-sheets to constitute the design and every part of it on the lithographie stone.

Thesettingup plate is then removed, which removes also' the separate con veyer-sheets cemented to it, leaving the designer group of designs in ink on the face of the stone. Care should be taken that thefseparate small conveyer-sbeers employed are'all substantiallyA l the same thickness, or other means may be adopted to the end that allkreceive suicient pressure during contact to carry over the ink` from the face of the conveyer-sheets to the face of the stone.

developed into a printing-surface. The first large printing-surface is thus prepared.

The stone is then suitably When a duplicate of that large printing-sur- ICQ damp upon another suitable clean litho' graphic stone o'r other planographic surface and again subjected to suitable pressure, when the ink or sufficient of it will leave the surface of the conveyersheet .and .attach l itself to the clean lithographie. stone or other surface to constitute thereonlan exactdu plicate in all respects of the large design as a whole or group of designs that appears ont-he first printing-surface. This second printingsurface is then developed suitably .into a printing-surface. A third printinges'urface 'may be made in the same way, and any hum berLof duplicate printing-surfaces, each one 4of'which will be an exact duplicate of'the first.;l This process of duplicating printing- Asurfaces may therefore be carried on indefinitely, thereby producing any number of printing-surface desired without resorting to the manual process of sticking up and ar-k ranging the design upon the settingup plate except for the purpose of making the vfirst printing-surface. 1 i l -In the accompanying drawing, which forms a part*A hereof, the conveyer-she'et of my invention in its preferred form is diagrammatically represented in'section.-

A is the foundation-layer of hard rubber, and B is the relatively thin su Hace-cushioning layer of softer rubber, to be integrally united therewith at all points. The surface of the cushioning-layer B is evenly and uniformly IIO A` finished and is adapted to receive a uniform layer of suitable sizing or to be otherwise suitably prepared to receive an imprint of adesign. Preferably, also, the foundation-layer A, of hard rubber, which is nou-stretchable and non-shrinkable longitudinally and later ally, is of even and uniform thickness and has an even and uniform surface on the back, adapting it to rest upon a suitable level support or. plate, such as a setting-up plate, whereby an even pressureduring contact may be applied to every part of the conveyer- "whether planographic, relief,

sheet. yThe pressure may be attained by the use of an ordinary scraper passing across the back of the setting-up plate from end to end, or it may be a rolling pressure, or it may be a whole surface contact and pressure. Where scraping or rolling 'pressure is used, the surface layer A, of soft rubber, should be as thin as possible, for the thinner this layer is made the less will be the` local distortion of the design due to the local application of pressure. In all cases, however, the conveyor-sheet of my invention itself directly carries the ink constituting the design and conveys it to the new surface that is to be developed into a printing-surface, t and the contact between theconveyer-surface and the printing-surface in the application of the pressure tosuch contact is such that the conveyor-surface does not shift or slip on such surface after contact is once begun; but the two surfaces are accurately and reliably brought together, so that the one exactly reproduces the other in reverse so far as concerns the design. After the design is transferred 'to the planographic surface, as herein described, that surface may manifestly be' developed into any character of print-ingsurface desired, intaglio, or

' otherwise.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1.v The improvement in the art of lithographic transferring which consists in printing the design in ink'orother suitable medium from any suitable printing-surface upon a uniformly-surfaced conveyer-sheet `having a foundation layer of material which is nonstretchable and non -shrinkable longit'udinally and laterally and a relatively thin surface-cushioning layersecured thereto at all points, bringing the printed face of said conveyer-sheet into contact with aplanographic surface prepared to receive the design and adapted to be thereafter developed into 'a printing -surface for the design, applying pressure with or to said contact without shifting the position of the conveyer-sheet as a whole upon the planographic surface after contact, removing the couveyer-sheet afteisuch contact, and suitably developing the planographic surface into a printing-surface of the character desired, substantially as described.

2. Thie improvement in the art of lithographic transferring which consists in printing the design in ink or other suitable medium from any suitable printing-surface upon a uniformly-snrfaced conveyer-sheet having a foundation layer of hard rubber which is nonstretchable and nou -shrinkable longitudiinally and laterally and a relatively thin surface-cushion ing layer of softer rubber secured thereto at all points, bringing the printed face of said conveyor-sheet into contact with a planographic surface prepared to receive theV design and adapted to be thereafter developed into a printing-surface for the design, applying pressure with or to said contact withoutshifting the position of the conveyor-sheet as a whole upon the planograpbicsurface after contact, removing the conveyor-sheet after such contact, and suitably developing the planographic surface into a printingsurface of the character desired, substantially as described'.

3. The improvement in the arf of making printing-surfaces, which consists in accurately sticking up by hand upon asuitable setting-up plate a plurality of suitable transfer-sheets each having a design printed in ink or other suitable medium vupon it-s face, applying such setting-up plate to a suitable planographic surface prepared to receive the plurality of designs and adapted thereafter to bedeveloped intoa printing-surface for said designs as a whole, applying suitable pressure to said contact, whereby the ink of the designs is communicated to the planographic surface, removing the setting up plate and the transfer-sheets, suitably developingrthe planographic surface into 'a printing-surface of the character desired, printing the design as a whole from said printing-surface in ink or other suitable medium upon a single uniformly-surfaced conveyer-sheet t which is nou-stretchable and non-shrinkable longitudinally and. laterally, bringing the printed face of said conveyer-sheet in contact with a planographic surface prepared to receive the design as a whole and adapted to be thereafter developed into a printing-surface for that design, applying pressure with or to said contact without shifting theposition of the conveyor-sheet as a whole upon the planographic surface after contact, removing thefcouveyer-sheet after such contact, suitably developing the planograpbic surface into a second printing-surface of the character desired for the design; and so on foreach successiveprinting-surface, whereby a plurality of printing-surfaces for a plurality of designs grouped thereon'may be made with but a single groupingr of the separate designs, substantially as described.

4. The improvement in the art ofmaking printing surfaces which consists in accurately sticking up by hand upon a suitable Setting-up plate a plurality of suitable transfer-sheets each havinga design printed in ink or other suitable medium upon t its face, apt plying such setting-up plate to a suitable` planographic surface prepared t0 receive the plurality of designs and adapted thereafter to be developed into a printing-surface for said designs as a whole, applying suitable pressure to said contact, whereby the ink of the designs is communicated to the planographic surface, removing the settingup plate and the transfer-sheets, suitably devel- 'oping the plauographic surface into a printing-surface of the character desired, printing the design as a whole from said printing-surface in iukror other suitable medium upon a single uniformly -surfaced conveyer sheet having a layer of material which is nonstretchable and non shrinkable longitudinally and laterally, bringing the printed face of said conveyer-sheet in contact with a planographic surface prepared to receive the design as a whole and adapted to be thereafter developed into a printing-surface for that design, applying pressure with or to said contact without shifting the position of the couveyer-sheet as a whole upon the planographic surface after contact, removing the conveyer-sheet after such con-tact,suitably ,developing the planographic surface into a second. printing surface of the character desired for the design; and so on foreach successive printing-surface, whereby a plurality of printing-surfaces for a pluralityof designs `grouped thereon may be made with but a single grouping'of the separate designs, substantially as described. 5. The improvement in the art of makin printing-surfaces which consists in accu- V rately sticking up by hand 4upon a suitable setting-up plate a plurality of suitable transfer-sheets each having a design printed in ink or other suitable medium upon its face, applying such setting-up plate to a suitable lplanographic surface prepared to receive the `plurality of designs and adapted thereafter to be developed into. a printing-surface for said designs as a whole, applying suitable pressure to said contact, whereby the ink of the designs is communicated to the planographic surface, removing the -settingup plate and' the transfer-sheets, suitably developing the planographic surface into a printing-surface of the character desired, printing the design as a whole from said printing-sury face in iuk or other suitable Amedium upon a single uniformly-surfaced conveyer-sheet having a foundation layer of material which is non-stretchable and non-shrinkable longitudinally and laterally and a thin surfacecushioning layer secured thereto at all poi nts, bringing the printed face of said conveyersheet in contact with a planographic surface prepared to receive the design as a whole and uo adapted to be thereafter developed into a contact, removing the conveyer-sheet after such contact, suitably developing the planographi'c snrfacelnto a second printing-sur-l face of the character desired for the design; and so on for each successive printing-surface, whereby a plurality of printing-surfaces for a plurality of designs grouped thereon may be made with but a single grouping of the separate designs, substantially as described.-y

6. The improvement in the art of making printing-surfaces which consist-s in accurately sticking up by hand upon a suitable settingup plate a plurality of suitable transfer-sheets each having a design printed in ink or-other suitable medium upon its face, applying such setting-up plate to a suitable planographic surface prepared to receive the plurality of designs and adapted thereafter to be developed into a printing-surface for said designs as a whole, applying suitable pressure to said contact, whereby the -ink of the designs is communicated to the planographic surface, removing the setting-up plate and the transfersheets, suitably developing the ,planographic surface into a printing-surface ofthe character desired, printingr the design as a whole from said printing-surface in ink or other suitable medium upon a single uniformlysurfaced conveyer-sheet having a foundation layer of hard rubber which is non-stretchable and non-shrinkable longitudinally and laterally and a thin surfacecushioning layer of softer rubber secured thereto at all points, bringing the printed face of said couveyer-sheet in contact with a planoygraphic surface prepared to receive the design as a whole and adapted to be thereafter developed into a printing-surface for thatde- Y sign, applying pressure with or to said contact without shifting the position of the conveyer-sheet as a whole upon the planographic surface after contact, removing the'conveyersheet after such contact, suitably developing the planogra'phic surface into a second printing-surface of the character 'desired for the design; and so on for each successive printing-surface, whereby a plurality of printingsurfaces for'a plurality of designs grouped thereon may be made with butasiugle grouping of the separate designs, substantially as described.

7. Improvement. in the art of. making printing surfaces which consists iu accurately sticking up by hand upon a suitable setting-up plate a plurality of suitable transfer-sheets, each having a design printed in ink or other suitable medium upon its face, applying said setting-up plate to a suitable planograpliic surface prepared to receive the plurality of designs and adapted thereafter to be developed into a printing-surface for said design as a whole, applying a suitable pressure vto said contact, whereby the ink of the designs is communicated to the plauographic surface, removing the setting-u p plate and the transfer-sheets, suitably developing the planographic surface into a printing-surface of the character desired, printing the design as a whole from said printing-surface in inking or other suitable medium upon a single uni- ICO IIO

formly-surfaced conveyor-sheet which is nonstretchable and non -sllrinkable longitudinally and laterally, `bringing the printed face of said conveyor-sheet in contact with a planographic surface prepared to receive the design as a Whole and adapted to be thereafter 'developed into apriuting-snrface for that de sign, applying pressure with or to said contact without shifting the position of the conveyerlsheet as a whole upon the planographie surface after contact, removing the conveyersheet after such contact, suitably developing the planographic surface into a second printing-surface of the character desired for the design, removing the remnants of the ink from the conveyer-sheet, again printing the design from the Irst printing-surface upon the conveyer-sheet, transferring the design from the conveyer-sheet to a second plano graphic surface, and developing said second planographic surface into a printing-surface `as before; and so on for each successive print- 

